There has been a known issue clouding the Marketplace on our beloved platform that has affected a good number on non-US residents (surprise, surprise) – not being able to download a good number of apps (mainly just after they are published) or even access the Marketplace itself, as India has to struggle to cope with.
I have had this problem myself, attempting to download The Oregon Trail to bring back the old days of Windows 98. Reading up on a previous post about a registry hack that changes the location of the computer and allows you to catch apps using Zune software. Now The Windows Club team have taken it to the next level (good news for the less technically savvy) and have released MarketPlace Enabler.
This handy little program allows anyone who can’t access the Marketplace to change the location and literally access it from anywhere in the world (except you wont be physically moving from your seat). As you’d be using the Zune software, free and paid apps will be downloaded just as you would on your phone, and it is all perfectly safe as the payment gateway attached to your Xbox Live/Zune account will be used to complete the purchase.
I installed the software on my Windows 7 desktop, highly excited to get my hands on The Oregon Trail HD. Simply running the .exe file (while Zune wasn’t running and my phone was disconnected) I as able to change my location and it reported a successful change. Unfortunately, when plugging my phone in and starting Zune, I still could not find The Oregon Trail HD, which I should now be able to see/purchase. After countless reboots, and defaulting/changing my location with the tool, it seems that I have hit a brick wall and wont be going down the Oregon Trail in HD anytime soon, without hacks anyway. MarketPlace Enabler also doesn’t allow me to pretend I’m from another planet; something I hope will be fixed in a future version, along with the above.
Although the tool itself failed to work, the idea and concept is spot on. There is room for improvement and possible fixes could be applied to a future update, or we could pin our hopes on the Marketplace loosening up slightly.
Check out the detailed page over at The Windows Club for more information and the download link. Let us know if the solution worked and how it has improved your experience with your Windows phone, or if it failed.
Source: The Windows Club; via: Mobility Digest
